Tuesday, July 29

During the long hot days of summer a light, bright and refreshing dessert is the perfect way to end the meal, especially after a four course meal! I was asked by Foodie.com, (the same group that produces FoodieTV which has posted a series of our videos) to compile our favorite summer desserts. I normally pass on these things but thought it would be fun to share! Here's a mix of a few of our favorite desserts served during the summer at our farmhouse/cooking school and memories of summers past long before we lived in Italy...

Sunday, July 27

Make your kitchen smell outright divine with this Tuscan-based slow roasted tomato bread soup, Pappa al Pomodoro. This recipe is a perfect example of eating with the seasons & peasant cooking. Using our homegrown tomatoes, basil & garlic along with stale bread - with only four ingredients the taste is explosive!

Tuesday, July 22

A gorgeous oven-free, gluten-free, no-bake dessert perfect for those hot summer nights! This dessert has become a classic in our kitchen and cooking classes
throughout stone fruit season. It's light & fresh, and even after a long Italian
meal, everyone has room for a little peaches & cream!

It's not only easy to make, but the ingredients are flexible; use white, rosè or red wine (finish off that bottle of white that's been sitting in the fridge for the last 2 nights...) The same with aromatics - rosemary, thyme, lemon, lavender...whatever you've got on hand. (This is why its so important to have an herb garden!)

With a paring knife cut the fruit in half and remove the stone. If the stone will not come away easily, make a shallow incision around the stone and it will fall away once cooked.

Place the fruit cut side down in a pan or pot that fits the fruit snugly. Add in the aromatics with the sugar and top with wine until halfway up the fruit. Cover with baking paper (parchment) and bring the pan up to a medium simmer for 8-12 minutes total depending on the size of the fruit. Give the peaches a turn on their backs after about 5 minutes and they are done when a knife slips easily into the thickest part of the fruit.

Once the peaches are cooked, remove from the pan and place on a plate to cool. Return the pan to a low flame and reduce the wine until it becomes a syrup. Give it a taste - if its a little tart, add a spoonful of sugar. Be careful not to let this burn. Strain the syrup into a bowl and allow to cool.

To serve: Quarter the peaches and carefully remove the skins. Arrange on the plate and drizzle atop the white wine syrup and a dollop of cream.

Thursday, July 10

A booze that's damn near biblical - not only because of its rich smooth spicy flavor of walnuts, clove, vanilla and cinnamon but it must sit in the sun for 40 days and 40 nights as the first step in making it! Pour a glass and serve alongside creamy vanilla panna cotta or topped on gelato for a decadent end to the meal.

A thriving local tradition is making
homemade liquor - from grappa infused with fruits & herbs, to visner
& visciolino (cherry liquors), nocino (walnuts) & many more! Whenever offered a homemade digestivo (after dinner drink)
you must oblige! It is homemade & thus a gift from the
house....sometimes a wonderfully delicious drink that you
are beggin for more and other times...WOW! absolute firewater! In Italy it's easy to find 95%-97% pure alcohol at any where from the hardware store to the "Costco" surplus shopping stores. And with a walnut grove a kilometer down the road from our farmhouse, this has become a classic in our house.

Picking walnuts with my cousin

I 've told the story before but many of my homemade liquors are recipes from the wonderful Mamma Mochi teaching me her
age old recipes of making digestivi. She is my mentor of sorts when it comes to all things 'spirits'! As usual, the recipe varies depending on where you live.

This Nocino
recipe for example uses whole green nuts and MUST sit in the sun
& stirred for 40 days, then brought in to sit in the dark for
another 30 days before you filter. After that, the first pour is
traditionally on Christmas Eve! ...maybe I'll leave a little out for
Babbo Natale this year!

Mix together well.
Let sit in sun for 40 days - stirring & mixing the sugar each day.
Then let sit for another month in cool dark storage.
Filter & bottle.
You can let the nocino age if you would like - some prefer to drink immediately & those shelf the bottle for 2 years or more! Traditionally, the first glass should be poured on Christmas Eve.

There is also a recipe for the 'used nuts' with Marsala ...coming soon!

Saturday, July 5

Watch the latest video in our webseries of shorts "Taste of Italy"! A walk through our 400 tomatoes in 12 heirloom varieties at our farm
(agriturismo) in Le Marche, Italy. Jason (chef & farmer)
waters his pride of the garden & explains which are for eating &
which are for jarring/preserving. Filmed on an iPad in July 2014 - be
sure to check back for Part 2 and watch the tomato harvest begin
shortly!

"Taste of Italy" is our webseries of shorts (under 2
min.) of life on our farm in Italy, the food, cooking classes, garden
and more!

Thursday, July 3

We're back after a June hiatus with an update on the farmhouse and
happening in the area. We recap the past month and beautiful wedding and
festivities we hosted as well as what it's like watching the World Cup
in small town, Italy! Ashley recreates the 'barking deer' and we share a
few recipes: Nocino (walnut liquor) and Poached Peaches in white wine!
The we run down a list of upcoming festivals in the area from beer to
gelato there is something to eat/drink/do!!Thanks for listening!

Stream on Stitcher Radio or download on iTunes: Podcast from Italy, #76 - Summer Weddings in Italy & Recipe for Poached Peaches

And here are a few photos from Cèshaun & Aaron's Wedding at our farmhouse, the culmination of three nights of food & festivities: